The present invention relates to firearms, namely, the safe operation, training, storage, display and transportation thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to making a firearm safer by clearly indicating to the user that the chamber of a firearm is devoid of a round and cannot be fired.
In the prior art, firearms include a firing chamber for receiving a live round. Additional rounds are commonly provided in a magazine, for example, for later introduction into the firing chamber for subsequent firing. When the firing pin is engaged with the live round that is in the firing chamber, the ammunition is driven through the chamber and the remaining cartridge casing is left remaining. An extractor rod with a finger connected thereto, for example, is then employed to remove the casing through the breach. Depending on the mechanics of the firearm, the next live round is loaded into the firing chamber either manually or automatically.
Most notably, however, it is possible for a live round to remain in the chamber even when the supply of live rounds, such as a clip or magazine, is removed from the firearm. This raises a significant safety issue in that a firearm may appear to be safe because the clip or magazine has been removed but is actually not safe because a live round independently remains in the chamber ready for firing. Thus, a firearm can fire a round even when there is no clip or magazine loaded into the firearm.
There have been many attempts in the prior art to solve the aforementioned problems associated with a round left remaining within the firing chamber of a firearm. These prior art safety devices are typically designed to effectively render the firearm completely unusable by locking it in some fashion. These devices are well-suited for preventing unwanted use of the firearm, such as by children.
For example, various safety devices have been provided in the prior art that provide an assembly that locks onto the barrel of the firearm to render the entire firearm unusable. These devices typically include a rod that is routed through the barrel from the firing chamber and is clipped or secured to the open end of the barrel to prevent removal of the safety device. Either or both the firing chamber and the bore of the barrel are blocked to prevent operation of the firearm.
These devices suffer from the inherent problems associated with employing any type of locking structure, namely, the requirement of use of a key to unlock the firearm to use it and inconvenience if the key is lost. These types of safety devices are particularly ill-suited for individuals who frequently use firearms, such as law enforcement officers, or individuals who need to quickly use a firearm in an emergency situation, such as a homeowner in self-defense during a burglary.
Other prior art safety devices are employed for indicating to the user that the firing chamber is devoid of a live round. In these situations, a user does not want the firearm to be completely disabled by a locking mechanism but merely to indicate that the firearm is safe to handle and cannot be accidentally fired. These types of safety devices are particularly useful for experienced firearm users, such as law enforcement officers and hunters.
The prior devices that provide some type of safe condition indication without the unwanted complete locking also typically employ an indication member that extends from a plug that is positioned with the firing chamber of the firearm. However, these prior art safety devices require awkward clips, springs or fasteners for securing the safety device to the barrel or the body of the firearm. As a result, these safety devices are cumbersome to install and use. Also, they are difficult to secure in place on or in the firearm to maintain the safety protection of the device.
While these type safety devices have the primary goal of indicating to the user that the firing chamber is devoid of a live round, they also have the effect of rendering the firearm unusable as well because the firing chamber is completely blocked. While this may be desirable in certain situations and for certain users to render the firearm completely unusable, there are other situations where it is desirable for the firearm to continue to operation, i.e. dry fire. The ability to dry fire a firearm while simultaneously knowing, with certainty, that the firearm will not fire an actual round, is critical for use in training exercises, such as for law enforcement officers, and the like.
Therefore, there is a need for a safety device that clearly indicates to the user with certainty that the chamber of the firearm is free and clear of a live round so that the user can be confident that the firearm cannot be fired even when the clip or magazine is removed. There is also a demand for a firearm safety device that can also permit the firearm to be dry fired, holstered and the weapon system thereof cycled in a normal fashion to closely simulate actual firearm use for employment in training exercises and the like.
The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art firearm safety devices. In addition, this firearm safety device provides new advantages not found in prior art firearm safety devices, and overcomes many of the disadvantages of such devices.
The invention is generally directed to a new, novel and unique firearm safety device for use to clearly indicate that the firearm is in a safe condition. As a result, the firearm safety device of the present invention is well-suited to secure a firearm used during training without fear that the firearm may fire a live round.
The firearm safety device of the present invention includes a cylindrical cartridge plug which is insertable into a firing chamber of the barrel of a firearm. One end of the cartridge plug is positioned proximal to the opening of the bore through the barrel and the other end is positioned proximal to a firing pin of the firearm. The cartridge plug has a smooth outer surface which is in communication with an extraction finger of the firearm. A number of protrusions emanate outwardly from the outer surface of the cartridge plug. The protrusions are frictionally engageable with the inner wall of the firing chamber to maintain the plug within the firing chamber. An elongated indicator member is connected to the end of the cartridge plug which is proximal to the bore. The other end of the elongated indicator member extends completely through the bore of the barrel so that it is visible outside the barrel of the firearm to indicate to the user that the firearm is in a safe condition and cannot be fired.
For installation of the firearm safety device of the present invention, the free end of the elongated indication member is routed through the bore of the barrel via the breach. The cartridge plug is then seated within the firing chamber and frictionally secured in place by the engagement of the protrusions into the inner wall of the firing chamber. This frictional engagement prevents the safety device from being easily extracted due to the frictional engagement of the cartridge plug from the firing chamber.
With the cartridge plug securely in place, the elongated indication member is dimensioned to extend beyond the open end of the bore of the barrel to be plainly visible to the eye. The length of the indication member may be trimmed to size as desired by the user leaving at least 3.5 inches exposed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a firearm safety device that effectively and accurately indicates the safe condition of a firearm where a live round cannot be fired or loaded and where live ammunition cannot be introduced once the safety device is in place.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a firearm safety device that does not render the firearm completely unusable but unable to fire or introduce a live round.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a firearm safety device that can be dry fired.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a firearm safety device that can be easily installed and removed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a firearm safety device that is easy and cost effective to manufacture.
It is yet a further object of the present invention that allows for holstering of a firearm that has the firearm safety device of the present invention installed therein.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a firearm safety device that can be easily customized by the user.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a safety device that permits the weapons system of the firearm to be cycled without extracting the safety device.